Nvidia has received approval from the US government to resume exports of its H20 graphics processing unit (GPU) to China, CEO Jensen Huang confirmed during a July 15, 2025, interview with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

With TSMC commanding the lion's share of foundry orders for data center AI accelerators, second-tier players like UMC, GlobalFoundries (GF), and SMIC are urgently repositioning to tap into the AI market. Each is adopting a unique strategy to stay relevant in a rapidly intensifying competitive field.

Broadcom has reportedly scrapped its plan to invest US$1 billion in an assembly, test, and packaging (ATP) facility in Spain. Reuters and Europa Press cited insiders saying that Broadcom and the Spanish government failed to reach an agreement on investment details, though neither side disclosed specific reasons.

Malaysia has imposed new export restrictions on high-end artificial intelligence (AI) chips, including those from Nvidia, to curb potential rerouting to China. Effective immediately, all exports, transshipments, and re-exports of US-origin advanced AI chips require a Strategic Trade Permit, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said on July 14, 2025. The regulation is based on the Strategic Trade Act (STA) 2010.

As US-China tech tensions deepen, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has once again found himself at the center of a geopolitical storm — this time, not for launching a groundbreaking GPU or driving record-breaking stock valuations, but for simply planning a trip to China.

The US's recent decision to impose a 50% tariff on copper imports is expected to have minimal direct impact on India's copper exports, but it may contribute to uncertainty in India's electronics manufacturing and semiconductor supply chains.

The GB10 chip co-developed by Nvidia and Taiwan's MediaTek is experiencing demand several times higher than expected as the product nears mass production, according to industry sources.

Dutch lithography equipment giant ASML announced it will release its second quarter 2025 earnings report at 2 pm Taiwan time on July 16, one day ahead of TSMC. A major concern for ASML executives is the potential repeat of the nightmare experienced in the first quarter of 2025 when TSMC delayed orders, which could again impact ASML's performance.

Beyond reciprocal tariffs, a significant impact on the semiconductor industry comes from the US Section 232 tariff review under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, with a decision expected by the end of July 2025 at the earliest. This so-called semiconductor tariff is causing major concern.

China faces significant challenges advancing its semiconductor lithography, a key hurdle for its drive toward technological self-sufficiency and superiority in the trade war with the US.